Chapter 1100: Seeing The World Tree

Following behind Solana, Alice had an awkward expression on her face. Solana disliked her ancestors, spoke about the current state of the Elves and yet... She herself made no move to resolve it.

Alice wasn’t sure if she should show support or speak badly about things. Either way, silence was all that was present.

[I took the liberty to analyse it a little bit.] Cayla spoke all of a sudden as Alice was glad something could distract her from the heavy silence.

’If you’re telling me, then it must be something unique rather than just a simple contract.’

[Something along those lines. It’s as she said, it’s only partially a contract. I don’t know how the Royals did it but this ’brand’ of obedience is something ingrained into their very vessel and soul.

[One where even if you were to remove the contract, there would be lingering effects that can’t be removed.] Pausing to consider her words for a moment, Cayla opened her mouth.

[The best way I can explain it would be something akin to instinct. Like a fear and instinct towards pain where you would seek to dodge it, obedience towards the Royal family’s bloodline is their instinct.]

It was vague but it was the best Cayla could describe it as. Even as the Eye of the Abyss, she wasn’t even sure what she was looking at since it wasn’t exactly Abyssal in nature. Just seeing the energy and cross referencing it with cases she saw in the past did little to solve the puzzle.

Alice creased her brows.

If that was the case... Dealing with the contract would need more than just severing the connection. In fact...

’Do you think I’ll be able to trace back the exact moment of their ’agreement’ using Revenant recollection? If I can, I should be able to undo it in some sense.’ Alice asked.

Cayla thought about it for a moment before shrugging.

[Possibly. But tracing back that much history might be a stretch even for you. Plus in the first place, this is a path that their ancestors set hem down. As outsiders, it’s not exactly our role to intervene unless they seriously seek help.

[And if they do, it is the Royal Family’s job to resolve it. Personally, I think we only step in if the Royal Family refuses to let them go even after the Elves choose to be free. There’s also no telling what might happen without the protection of the Royal family.]

Without knowing the full context of things, intervening may cause more harm than good.

Forcing herself to accept it and let things be, Alice let out a deep sigh. If people didn’t want to be ’saved’ then she couldn’t force it onto them. In the first place, who is she to determine that they needed ’saving’ in the first place? What if they liked the way things were?

Guaranteed safety and a place to live was something that people are still fighting to get. Not only that, but it seemed as though the Royal Family was actually somewhat lenient on the restraints.

So without knowing, her concern had now come from a place of arrogance due to her power.

’Society is complicated.’ Alice pursed her lips in frustration.

[They tend to be. Rules and regulations, social cues and judgement. Things deemed to be ’common sense’ that you’re expected to know even if you’ve never experienced it before.

[Not only that, but people are rarely transparent about themselves. They lie to others and even to themselves. It could be small lies, it could be big.] Cayla shrugged.

[It’s why I mostly avoided interacting with people unless it’s people that I like or I absolutely have to. This kind of thing is unavoidable, even in Ayr.]

With heavy thoughts on her mind, Alice continued to follow Solana.

As they made their way through the city, it was soon abundantly clear that their destination was actually... The tower?

It didn’t seem like a mistake either as Solana showed no signs of confusion.

She simply walked this path with a kind of familiarity that couldn’t be faked.

The kind where you’ve seen this path so much that you could walk it blindfolded.

And as expected, they soon reached the tower.

However, there was one difference. That being instead of travelling up the tower, they made their way down.

Solana pressed her insignia against a groove in the wall and the floor opened up in front of them. A spiralling staircase downwards into the depths.

However, there was a large cavity in the centre of the stairway. One that Alice assumed to be a ’quick travel’ method to avoid the stairs.

"The stairs were made in the past where the ancestors weren’t focused on anything ’easy’ to use. At most, they left a hole for people to jump up and down on.

"Later, when peace was in abundance, they made a few carts with the help of the Royal family to avoid taking the stairs. So what you see here is largely unused with the exception of being used as ledges to jump from." Solana took the initiative to explain in case Alice was curious about the stairs.

After all, with how far they need to go, it was rather unrealistic to imagine people walking all of this without being absolutely exhausted. Regardless of whether or not they’re a civilian or a Hunter.

Leaning forward slightly, with her head over the ledge, Alice couldn’t help but raise and eyebrow feeling the wind howling from below.

"Yeah I wouldn’t want to imagine what it’ll be like to fall down it if you’re a normal person." Alice mumbled.

"It was after an accident where a couple of elves died due to the wind that they actually installed the carts. I think there was outrage since a kid died but that was before my time so I can’t say." Solana shrugged.

". . ."

’Please can I have another Elf to guide me? This one is a little broken.’ Alice sobbed inwardly. She felt like no matter what she said, Solana always had something grim to reply with.

"I’m sure everyone has no issues with getting down. If there is, let me know and I don’t mind carrying you." Solana glanced back.

Before Alice could say anything, Solana opened her mouth once more.

"Don’t worry, I won’t suddenly drop you to your death."

". . ."

Letting out a sigh, Alice flicked her finger and summoned Ruby.

"Ruby, are you able to support two people?" Alice asked as the sudden appearance of the weapon surprised both Allura and Karya.

Bouncing around with glee, the weapon turned horizontal and waited for Alice and Allura to get on.

"Thank you sugar plum." Alice chuckled, giving the weapon a pat before jumping on. Locking her feet against the surface, Alice gestured for Allura to climb on.

"This is certainly something new. When did you get this?" Allura raised an eyebrow as she carefully got on.

Yet despite another person standing on her, Ruby was stable as ever. It didn’t even sink down.

"I got it earlier when you were busy with Karya. Since Void Fang was damaged and Nyer showed control over the Void, I figured I should reforge my weapons and adjust the foundation of my skills." Alice shrugged, securing Allura to the weapon so she doesn’t fall off.

Seeing Alice and Allura being ready, Solana simply turned around and fell backwards, head first towards the ground.

Karya followed soon after while Alice lifted the two of them up into the air before stomping down on the accelerator.

*BANG!!!

With a burst of speed, Ruby shot forwards as she rode the rift between realms, quickly catching up to both Solana and Karya.

Looking at the cannon, Allura couldn’t help but feel impressed as she could see the countless abilities overlapping in one vessel to make this possible.

Not only that, but there seems to be links to two other weapons that Alice had kept hidden for now. A surprise for their training spars later for sure.

With their speed, it didn’t take long for the group to reach the bottom as Alice spun Ruby around, using her acceleration to counter their fall speed.

Jumping off with Allura, Alice gave Ruby some more praise before dismissing her.

Children grow up well with praises after all.

With that being done, Alice finally turned around to see the giant ’thing’ waiting for them at the bottom.

A white tree crafted from a material that wasn’t like wood.

Strange neon blue energy flowed through the roots while tethers of energy branches up into the air before fading away.

A sight that all of them could see, not just with Cayla.

"This is a sapling of the World Tree. There are a few of them planted in important parts of the world where we Elves need to travel often. It’s a door to our ’nation’ if you can even call it that." Solana shrugged.

There was a cavity at the base of the tree where the blue energy gathered into a liquid like state.

Making a small cut on her finger, Solana dripped a single droplet of blood onto the pool as the reflection shifted immediately.

Without saying more, she gestured for the others to follow and dove into the pool.

Alice followed and the moment she did, she felt the gravity invert. She was diving a moment ago but now she was standing.

And before her...

Spread a surreal realm with countless islands hovering in the air surrounded by a large bubble. And connecting each of these bubbles together was a tree like no other.

Branches that stretched across the sky, casting long shadows that dwarfed even the biggest cities that Alice had seen.

The World Tree stood before her in it’s full glory.